Ten talented Brooklyn students win Sharp Fellowships

Ten talented Brooklyn students win Sharp Fellowships

By Mary Frost

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A group of ten gifted high school students from across Brooklyn have been chosen as this year’s recipients of Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Peter Jay Sharp Youth Arts Fellowship.

Four of the winners are musicians – including a clarinetist, violinist, vocalist and rock musician -- and three are dancers. The group also includes one writer, one visual artist, and one filmmaker/actor.

Each fellow is affiliated with a local arts group, including Brighton Ballet, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, Groundswell Mural Project, Noel Pointer Foundation, and Girls Write Now. The organizations will receive $2,500 to support scholarships.

Over the school year, fellows will participate in one-of-kind experiences at Brooklyn’s world-renowned institutions -- going behind-the-scenes to meet with performers and curators, attend performances, and receive expert advice on careers in the arts.

Brooklyn Community Foundation President Marilyn Gelber said that the fellowship program was designed to ensure that young people growing up in Brooklyn would have “every opportunity to realize their creative dreams and connect with all the incredible professional artists and cultural resources Brooklyn has to offer.”

On September 28th the fellows visited the Brooklyn Academy of Music to see the new collaboration between jazz composer Wynton Marsalis and the Garth Fagan Dance Company, “Lighthouse/Lightning Rod,” part of the BAM Next Wave Festival. Prior to the performance, they enjoyed a private movement class at BAM Fisher.

In November, fellows will head to Williamsburg to meet with choreographer Elizabeth Streb and participate in a S.L.A.M. (the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics) class and see a performance.

The 2012-13 Peter Jay Sharp Youth Arts Fellows were selected from competitive nominations submitted by Brooklyn arts and cultural organizations. This is the second year of the program.

The Fellowship, seeded by a $75,000 gift from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, is administered through the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Arts for All Fund.